Send this to a friend

Mobile technology is changing the way companies operate as they cut the cords and take to the air at a rapid rate.

In the five years since Apple Inc. introduced the iPhone, the proportion of U.S. households with landlines has plummeted from 98 percent to just 67 percent. At the same time, the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the world’s population by year’s end, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast.

When it comes to wireless for businesses, “We haven’t seen anything yet,” said Gopan Madathil, founder of TechCoire, a local technology networking group.

Mobile is not only killing off home landlines but is transforming business systems, too, as voice and data converge and data move to the cloud. Data now account for 85 percent of the mobile traffic in the U.S.

Growth continues at stunning levels — it doubled in 2011 for the eighth straight year and it is expected to double again in 2012. And business demand is one of the chief drivers behind this increase in data traffic.

“It’s a really super time to be alive,”said Bill Versen, director of mobility solutions for Verizon Enterprise Solutions. “It’s really exciting to see this growth driven by all these choices, all these devices and all the applications that are being created.”

Verizon, the nation’s largest 4G carrier, is preparing for a future when information workers’ default workspace is entirely mobile. Versen describes a scenario where work groups, especially in areas such as sales and marketing, will all have enabled devices to allow access to databases on the road. When they return to the office they’ll recharge their smartphones or tablets on docking stations that interface seamlessly with the company’s cloud storage facility.

Related links:

Industries:

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.